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Eliminating Food Allergies And Food Intolerances For Good Health

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If you are suffering from one or more of these symptoms you may be suffering from food allergies or food intolerance.

If you have been treated by your doctors for any of the above complaints
without relief it may be time to suspect food allergies or food
intolerant as being at the root causes of your misery. Your doctor
likely gave you creams or medications according to the symptoms you are
telling him. In most cases these ailments are being caused by food
allergies and food intolerances which will not go away until the
specific food is identified and eliminated from the diet. By
eliminating the offending foods you can prevent the occurrence of the
above symptoms and ailments. Prevention rather than treatment is the
key. No amount of creams or medications is going to make the symptoms go
away. For sufferers of food intolerance and food allergies the problem
is that usually it’s the symptom that gets treated, not the cause
leading to lack of sustainable cure.

In food allergy, an abnormal immune system response results in the body
making antibodies to 'fight off' a food. Food allergy, either IgE
antibody mediated or delayed non-Ig mediated allergy are reactions
caused by the immune system, A small number of adults approximately 1%
of adults and about 5-9% of children are affected by food allergies.

However, some people suffer symptoms after eating certain foods even
when they are not producing antibodies against them. A variety of
different mechanisms can cause foods to affect people in this way. These
non-immune reactions are known as food intolerances.

FOOD INTOLERANCE

This is much more common than food allergy and is not caused by the
immune system. The onset of symptoms is usually slower, and may be
delayed by many hours after eating the offending food. The symptoms may
also last for several hours, even into the next day and sometimes
longer. Intolerance to several foods or a group of foods is not
uncommon, and it can be much more difficult to decide whether food
intolerance is the cause of chronic illness, and which foods or
substances may be responsible.
With food intolerance, some people can tolerate a reasonable amount of
the food, but if they eat it too much (or too often) they get symptoms
because their body cannot tolerate unlimited amounts.

The symptoms caused by food intolerance are varied. They usually cause
gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, diarrhoea, nausea, and
vomiting, irritable bowel and can include skin rashes and sometimes
fatigue, joint pains, dark circles under the eyes, night sweats and
other chronic conditions.

Food intolerance can have a number of different causes:

Enzyme defects

Enzymes are required to help with the breakdown of natural substances
found in certain foods. If these enzymes are missing, or in short
supply, then eating the food can cause symptoms because part of the
content of the food cannot be properly dealt with by the body.

In lactose intolerance, for example, the body may lack the enzyme
lactase that breaks down lactose which is the sugar in the milk into
smaller sugars ready for absorption from the gut. Lactose is too large
to be absorbed across the gut wall undigested, and its presence in the
gut causes gut spasm, pain, bloating, diarrhoea and 'failure to thrive'.
Incidentally, these same symptoms can occur in milk allergy, when the
body has made antibodies to milk protein, which causes an immune
reaction when you drink milk. Hence, you cannot always distinguish
allergy from intolerance by symptoms alone without expert help. Most
Africans are lactose intolerant as we do not really produce milk in most
of Africa and thus our bodies were not built with the enzyme to digest
milk. Even our northern cows do not produce milk in commercial quantity.
Thus the milk we consume in Nigeria is imported and thus foreign to us
and alien to our digestive system.
Most foods require some enzyme activity in their digestion, and enzyme
deficiencies can be an important factor in food intolerance.
Other causes of food intolerance are naturally occurring chemicals in
the food that have an effect on the body. Such substances as caffeine in
coffee, tea, and chocolate, or amines in certain cheeses can produce a
negative reaction in some people. If you are food intolerant to a
particular food item, you can usually eat a little of it occasionally,
but negative reactions will increase the more you eat that food item.
Other causes of food intolerance may be naturally occurring substances
that can exert a toxic effect, causing symptoms of vomiting and
diarrhoea. In cases such as beans or chick peas that are undercooked,
there are aflotoxins, which cause these symptoms. If they are cooked
fully the toxins are not present. This is very confusing to someone who
seems to tolerate a food sometimes but not at other times.

Histamine in foods
Some foods contain histamine naturally, and others such as certain fish
and most sea food and other foods that that are not fresh or have not
been stored properly can develop a build-up of histamine. In certain
people, this histamine occurring naturally in the food can cause
symptoms when the food is eaten; typically, rashes, stomach pains,
diarrhoea and vomiting, asthma, and even increase in blood pressure.

Salicylates in foods
Many foods naturally contain salicylates, and our tolerance to this can
vary. The vast majority of people can eat salicylate-containing foods
with no problems, but other people may suffer symptoms if they eat too
many foods, which when combined contain a large amount. These
salicylate-intolerant people will get better if they eat a diet of low
and moderate salicylate foods and avoid those with the highest levels.

Additives in foods
A wide variety of natural and artificial additives are used in
colouring, preserving and processing foods. Some people can suffer
symptoms provoked by hypersensitivity to food additives and
preservatives.

Unfortunately many fruits are now genetically engineered to become very
sweet and attractive in colour. They are also grown with pesticides and
fertilizers so many people have become allergic to them and have thus
become fructose intolerant. The mostly sour pineapple we used to eat is
not the same as the deliciously sweet pineapple that is now available.
This sweetness is just basically sugar. Over consumption of fruits by a
fructose intolerant person will lead to arthritis, bad skin, bloating
and many other ailments.
The time between eating the food and getting symptoms depends on many
factors. If the food is only eaten occasionally, symptoms may start
immediately the food is eaten or start after two hours or even up to two
days later.However, this is different when the food is being eaten
regularly. In this case negative reactions to the food will run into
each other every time the food is eaten leading to the development of
chronic, almost continual symptoms.

How is Food Intolerance recognised?

To identify food allergies and food intolerance, the traditional way is
difficult and involves keeping a food diary and recording reactions to
them and eliminating foods until the intolerant food is finally
identified The diagnosis is usually made by removing the suspected food
from the diet (an exclusion diet) and seeing if symptoms improve. In
food intolerance, a wide range of symptoms may occur and multiple
symptoms are usual, and can be general and non-specific, which can make
diagnosis tricky. This highlights the need for attention to detail and
the need to record everything fully in a food and allergy symptom diary
and working with a dietician. At Mart Life Detox Clinic we identify
food allergies and food intolerances by our Bioenergitc test which can
specify whether a person is fructose, lactose, histamine or gluten
intolerant and also specify the exact food the person is intolerant or
allergic to.

After the biogenetic test the patient is advised to start an exclusion
diet which excludes the foods one is intolerant and allergic to. The
patient is advised to stay off the intolerant food for 3 months. after
this time the patient can introduce the food slowly into the diet and
eat it occasionally no more than once every week or once every two
weeks. Usually most people can tolerate eating these foods sometimes
without bringing back the negative symptoms. More frequent consumption
of these foods will bring back the symptoms. Each person will need to
establish their tolerance threshold. After weeks or months of not eating
the food you may be able to restart eating the food again without
getting negative reactions. This is known as tolerance, and its
maintenance depends on establishing the threshold of both frequency and
quantity for each person - in other words, eating the food occasionally
may be tolerated, but reintroducing it in large quantities or on a very
regular basis (e.g. every day) might lead to symptoms coming back. This
is purely individual so working this out and not restricting the diet
more than is necessary is a major consideration. I for example have
intolerance for eggs. I can eat eggs for one day without a reaction. The
second day I can manage. If I eat eggs for the third day running I come
down with a crashing headache.
The above is the case for food one is intolerant to. However for foods
one is allergic to the nutritionist will advise you to stay away from
such foods for life.

Elimination of certain foods either due to intolerance or allergies
requires that one replace foods with other foods of similar nutritional
value so that one is not lacking in essential nutrients. Our
nutritionist will help with these choices of food substitution.
Embarking on such diets requires a lot of dedication and planning but
the results can be life changing for the better.

Choosing the right time to start the diet for you and your family is
essential – avoiding starting the diet during holidays or major
celebrations is recommended as sticking to the diet will become more
difficult during such times. But straying from the exclusion diet during
holidays and festive season comes with a price as the negative symptoms
will come rushing back. After the holidays it is essential that the
diet is restarted as soon as possible to regain your health.

In a few people, underlying conditions such as infestation of parasites
and fungus, bacteria, virus and other pathogens can either cause
symptoms or make food intolerances worse. The biogenetic test will also
reveal these pathogens so that they can be effectively treated. In some
cases removing these parasites will also remove the food intolerance and
allow one to enjoy some of the food not previously tolerated again.

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